Data encryption and decryption for secure communication between hosts in a network has existed for many years. In these types of networks, each host device is burdened with encrypting outgoing data and decrypting incoming data. Since each host device must be modified in order to perform data encryption and decryption, it is an expensive and cumbersome proposition to establish such a secure network.
Moreover, network bridges for connecting zones or segments of a network have also existed for years. However, these bridges have not been configured to enable secure communication between hosts in different zones or segments. In other words, these bridges do not have the capability of encrypting and decrypting data transmitted from a host in one zone or segment to a host in another zone or segment while allowing unencrypted data to be transmitted locally between hosts in the same zone or segment.